Franklin Templeton Offers Two New Funds

September 12, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Investment management firm Franklin Templeton has launched the Franklin Global Listed Infrastructure Fund, and the Franklin Global Government Bond Fund, both of which are now available to investors.

The Franklin Global Listed Infrastructure Fund will provide
investors with access to a growing market driven by the global need to build or
replace aging infrastructure. According to Franklin Templeton, the fund seeks
total investment returns, consisting of income and capital appreciation, by
investing in the securities of infrastructure-related companies whose principal
business is the ownership, management, construction, operation, utilization or
financing of infrastructure assets around the world.

“We believe the fund offers investors a compelling
opportunity to participate in the current growth potential of the global listed
infrastructure market,” said Wilson Magee, the fund’s co-lead portfolio manager
and director of Global Real Estate and Infrastructure Securities for Franklin
Templeton Real Asset Advisors.

The Franklin Global Government Bond Fund will invest in
global government bonds with a focus on investment-grade issues. According to
Franklin Templeton, the fund seeks to maximize total investment return
consisting of a combination of interest income and capital appreciation. It
seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in fixed- or
floating-rate debt securities and obligations issued by government and
government-related entities located throughout the world and by taking
opportunistic exposure to other securities such as corporate bonds and
mortgage-backed securities. The fund may also invest in investment-grade
obligations issued by emerging market governments and make limited purchases of
below investment-grade securities.

“Default rates on investment-grade government debt have
remained near zero,” said John W. Beck, the fund’s co-lead portfolio manager
and co-director of Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group’s global fixed income
department. “Couple this with the positive trend in global gross domestic
product growth, the nascent recovery in Europe and the continued fiscal
strength of many emerging markets, and we believe this may be an encouraging
time for prudent investment in the asset class.”